Throw-Back Thursday PREVIEW
by caramelmonster2020
Summary: "We have something in common," Mato said. "What?" Sakura asked. "We both wished for a different ending." On Thursday, Sakura died taking a hit for Naruto from Sasuke. And on that day, she woke up sleeping. During class. In her 12 year old body. Talk about a Throw-back Thursday. TIME TRAVEL! SasuSaku eventually and strong Sakura.
1. Prologue

**Hey guys! This is my story that I posted on Wattpad that I had been telling you about! I thought I'd post a copy of it here. Here's the preview!**

**If you notice any changes from this version than in the other from Wattpad, that's because I edited it as I pasted it here.**

_**BY THE WAY! THE COVER IS THE WATTPAD VERSION OF THROW-BACK THURSDAY! Thta's my account on Wattpad, iScreammonster2020.**_

**Prologue: In Death Do We Part**

**Sakura's POV.**

I knew what I said to Sasuke was true, but I couldn't help but feel doubt that he would listen. I was right.

"You really are..." He paused and turned to me and smirked. "Damned annoying."

That was when he flash-stepped in front of me, and stuck a hand into my chest, casting me into a strong genjutsu. The last thing I heard before I collapsed on the ground was Naruto's voice screaming something incoherent. Then everything was black.

**In Sakura's Genjutsu...**

A second later, I found myself standing in the middle of a black void. I looked around for anything but it was just black and empty. Then the black scenery started to blur and change and I found myself back in Konoha. The Konoha before it been destroyed. My eyes widened in surprise but the scene changed again and I found myself standing at the front of the Academy. My brow furrowed in confusion and I frowned. Why am I here?

Suddenly, someone burst through the doors, making me jump.  
>A little girl ran past me in blur of pink and red and giggled. Wait, pink and red?<p>

My eyes trailed after my younger self.

_How naïve we were as children,_ Inner said. I had to agree with her. I was reminded of how useless and selfish I was when I was younger. I hated myself for it.

I grimaced.

Then the scene changed, blurring until it formed into a totally different setting. This time, I was at the spot where I had ate my lunch the day I graduated from the Academy. My grimace deepened slightly. Why am I even here?

Then a 12 year-old me and 12 year-old Sasuke formed in the exact same spots we were in before. I watched my younger self make a fool out of herself and talk all "high and mighty", making insults about Naruto. I started to hate myself even more.

Regretting it.

I watched as Sasuke walked away after talking back to me and calling me annoying.  
>Something tugged at my heart. A tight feeling in my chest.<p>

The seen changed and formed into a large misty bridge. The place where we had our first A-ranked mission together. The Great Naruto Bridge.

I watched as Sasuke threw himself in front of Naruto to protect him, sacrificing himself, and Naruto, unleashing the Kyuubi chakra, fought valiantly against Haku while Kakashi against Zabuza. All the while my younger self, being the useless little civilian-born girl she was, stood in front of Tazuna, the master bridge builder, doing nothing but watch.

Something warm and wet slid down my face. I was crying.

The scene changed another time and I was surrounded by dark overgrowth and...a giant snake.

My eyes widened as I realized where I was. I was in the middle of the Chunnin exams in the Forest of Death. In the middle of me and Sasuke's first encounter with Orochimaru.

My body started to tremble as tears continued to run down my face.  
>I watched as Sasuke stabbed himself in the thigh and carry me away to hide and continued to dodge as far as we can away from Orochimaru.<p>

The tears came faster and soon I was sobbing while I watched, the tight feeling and the regret growing larger and larger in my chest until it was almost intolerable.  
>I gritted my teeth, not to hold the tears back but in anger.<p>

_It's all his fault_, I thought as I glared through my tears at Orochimaru. All I wanted to do was kill him right on the spot, but it would be pointless. This was only a genjutsu.

I continued to cry, silently watching the scene play out to the part where Naruto came to the part wear Sasuke was bitten and given the curse mark.

_Damn it_, I thought. If only I had been stronger, he probably wouldn't have left or maybe even bitten.

I watched, tears having finally stopped, as my younger self carry unconscious Sasuke and unconscious Naruto and I was about to follow them but I couldn't move my legs. I couldn't move from my spot. Literally.

The scene changed again and this time I was watching the battle between me and Lee and the Sound ninja sent from Orochimaru. My younger self cut her hair and was getting beaten up by Zaku.

_Why couldn't I be stronger?_ I clenched my teeth. I watched regrettably as Sasuke woke and almost killed Zaku as my younger self ran up and hugged him from behind, pleading him to stop.

I sweat dropped while I still can't believe that I did that. It was such a weak move. I'm so useless.

The scene changed again and this time, I was back in the park, at night, standing under a tree with the perfect view of the most painful moment of my life.

My first confession to Sasuke.

I started to tear up again as I talked to Sasuke, crying.

_Kuso!_

I brought a hand up to wipe the tears from my eyes. _I'm so stupid!_  
>My younger self was yelling at him now and my tears kept running, making me hiccup and sob.<p>

He said 'thank you' before he knocked me out and laid my younger self on the bench, leaving Konoha forever.

_Stupid Sasuke_, I thought as I wiped my tears with the back of my hand again, although it didn't do much to stop _Why? Why did you have to leave us? You could have got stronger here at home, but you chose to get revenge in the darkness. You're so stupid! Sasuke-baka!_

The scene changed once again and this time, I stood in midair with a perfect view of the Valley of the End, where Naruto battled Sasuke to come home.

I was still crying.

I watched the whole fight and even heard their conversations between them.  
>When it finished, Naruto was laying unconscious on the ground with Sasuke kneeling over him in the rain. His head band had came off during the explosion. He got up, cradled his broken arm in his hand and limped away.<p>

I was crying silently throughout the whole fight. When I tried to move this time, I was able to make my way to the genjutsu-Naruto and kneeled down next to him. I smiled sadly through my tears, and the smile reached my eyes.

_Thank you,_ I thought to him. _If you were real, I wish I could have thanked you for everything._

Just as I stood up, the scene blurred back into black.

_Oh good it's finally over...What the hell is this?_

I gaped at the scene with complete confusion. I was surrounded by me's. There was 6 year old me, 8 year old me, 12 year old me, 16 year old me, and even another 17 year old me.

They stood around me, making a circle, but their faces showed anger, sadness, fear, frustration? All at once as they stared at me, as if looking into my soul.

"Why?" They chorused. They clenched their fist and gritted their teeth in "Why am I so weak? Why can't I be strong like Naruto and Sasuke? Why?"

At some point during their rant, they all started to cry and I only watched in horror.  
>They were crying tears of blood.<p>

"Stop," I yelled at them. I knew what they were trying to do. They were the darkness in my heart and they were trying to take me, convince me that I need the darkness. And it was working."Stop it!"

"It's all my fault," They screamed together. "It's all my fault!"

The darkness around us thundered and rumbled. Then it started to crack and I could see the white showing through the cracks. Everything looked like glass about to shatter.

"It is my fault," I said aloud as I looked at the ground in shame. My hair fell over my face like a curtain, hiding my face. Everything else, even the other Sakura's, seem to disappear. I became lost in my thoughts.

_Everything was my fault. If I wasn't so weak, I could have protected Sasuke. Maybe even prevented Orochimaru from giving him the curse mark. If I wasn't so weak, I could have been of some use during the attack on Konoha and help Naruto. I could have maybe been able to get a scratch on Sasuke when I tried to kill him._

_I am weak. I am useless. I'm a crybaby. I'm-_

"Shut up! You're not weak!" My thoughts were interrupted and I looked up to Inner yelling at me.

She was usually in my head in black and white colors, but she was literally standing outside of my mind, in front of me and in the genjutsu. In my mind, I had pictured her to look exactly like me, but now that she was standing in front of me, she didn't look exactly like me. We had the same hair, face, body, we were even wearing the same clothes. The only difference between us were her eyes. They weren't light green, jade, like mine. They were sunlight yellow, practically shining sparkly pale gold.

I stared at her shocked for a while and noticed that the other Sakura's had diappeared but the shattered black sky was frozen in mid cracking.

She raised am eyebrow questionably at "What?" Then she looked down at herself, back up to check where she was, and then back at me. Her face turned from confused to shock.

"Oh. Well this is new...and awkward." Then Inner recovered from the shock and put a hand on her waist and pointed a finger at "And you are NOT weak! What do you think we've been doing for the past three years?"

I stayed silent although I continued to look at her.

"Training," She continued. "We've been training our asses off and with the Fifth Hokage no less. We've become medical ninja and if it wasn't for you, Kankuro would be dead a long time ago. We aren't weak. We are strong. If we weren't, we wouldn't be the Fifth Hokage's apprentice, would we?"

My expression turned from dark to determined and I nodded at her.

"Now," She "Genjutsu is supposed to be one of your specialties. So stop being a wuss and break out of this hell hole!"

I nodded to her again and started to concentrate. I made the seal of the Tiger, concentrating chakra and calming myself.

"Kai!" I yelled. It didn't work.

I tried again and again and once more. Now I was starting to loose hope. The genjutsu was just too strong for me.

"Don't give up!" Inner yelled at me again. "We're not even in Sasuke-Bastard's Sharingan genjutsu! This should be nothing! If you don't get it in the first try, don't give up! If you don't get it the next few times, you still don't give up! Don't give up until you're last breath!"

Inner had grown to despise Sasuke after he had left a few years ago and it seemed that Naruto had grown on her.

My determined expression hardened and became fiercer. I continued to try and Inner continued to encourage me.

"Kai." I had to keep going. I had to get out of this genjutsu. I need to help Naruto. I...

Don't care about Sasuke.

"Kai!" _Sasuke_, I thought. _I..._

"KAI!" I didn't feel the same warm and sad feeling I usually did when I thought about him. I realized how I felt about Sasuke and my eyes widened for a moment then narrowed at nothing in anger.

_Sasuke_, I thought. _I hate you._

"KAI!"

"Never give up until your last breath! Don't give in until you die! That is my ninja way!"

I sweat dropped at her but smiled. "I think Naruto's rubbing off on you."

She shrugged. "You make it sound like it's a bad thing." She smirked.

I smiled back and shook my head. Then I tried one more time.

_Sasuke_, I thought. _Never will I love you again._

"KAI!"

The blackness started to fade as did Inner. She smiled at me and saluted me with two fingers. Then it all disappeared.

**Out of the genjutsu...**

I opened my eyes and blinked before looking around. I was laid on the ground less than 3 feet away from Madara's body and Kakashi and the Sage of Six Paths were standing not very far, their backs turned to me.

I have to get to Naruto, I thought. emThey'll probably be at the Valley of the End for their final battle.

I quietly brought myself up to a sitting position and looked around again. We were still in the same spot.

Kakashi and the Sage were talking about something serious but didn't seem to notice me.

_Good_, I thought. The Sage of Six Paths probably knows I'm awake though.

But the Sage made no sign that he had noticed me and continued to talk with Kakashi.

I quietly but quickly stood up and turned towards the direction of the Valley of the End and started at a walk but I was stopped by someone grabbing my wrist.

I looked back to see Kakashi, his face a mix of both surprised and seriousness.

"What are you doing?" He asked. "How did you break out of the genjutsu?"

I raised an eyebrow in confusion."What do you mean 'how'?"

He let go of my wrist."Even I couldn't break the genjutsu. So how did you?"

"Like how you normally break a genjutsu. Now I must find Naruto." I said before I turned to run but he stopped me again.

"No. Naruto and Sasuke have to settle this on their own. You just have to put faith in them." He said.

_'You mean I'll just get in their way'_ was what I wanted to say but instead I substituted it with ...

"I do have faith, "I said."In Naruto. "

Kakashi gave me look as if he expected something else and I continued.

"I have complete faith in Naruto but if something happens to him, I will never forgive myself."

And I ran to the Valley of End, towards the Final Battle.

**Kakashi's POV.**

I was surprised that she dissed Sasuke just like that. I had thought she was truly a kind girl.

_How was she able to break out of the genjutsu? And what did she see?_ I thought. I turned to look back at the Sage of Six Paths.

He nodded to me."Go and follow her. You may want to watch your team."

I nodded back to him and ran after her.

_Sakura_, I thought. _What did you see that made you change your feelings?_

**NO POV.**

The Sage stared after Kakashi, who ran at full speed in the same direction as Sakura although he wasn't able to catch up to her.

_That girl_, He thought. _Something in her eyes had changed._

He knew that she had woke up earlier and had attempted to leave them undetected but he made no sign that he'd noticed her awakening. He had noticed when she turned to look at them, her face had change. Not physically but it did.

Something in her eyes had told him that...he really wasn't sure what but he felt like she had wanted to do something and it seemed to him that she wanted to change.

_My dear girl,_ He thought. _What do you desire now?_

**At the Valley of the End...To Naruto and Sasuke's Final Battle...**

"SASUKE!"

"NARUTO!"

The two friends clashed again and the ground trembled with each hit.

Naruto would win, he had to. No matter what he would bring Sasuke back. That's was the only thing in his mind. Their memories together as Team 7, their adventures, their embonds/em they created together. He wouldn't let Sasuke sever them just like that. Not without a fight.

They had been battling for so long, both of them were both panting heavily and they knew they were almost out of chakra. They only had enough for the final blow.  
>Naruto had drained most of Kurama's chakra and had to stop using Kyuubi mode and Sage mode. Sasuke had to stop using his Mangekyo Sharingan and Susanno and had to revert back to his regular Sharingan.<p>

They were tied but that wasn't going to stop them. Nothing would stop them.  
>They stood several yards away from each other, on the stone ground near the water fall.<p>

"Naruto," Sasuke said."It's time to end this."

Naruto nodded at him and they started weaving hand signs. Electricity sparked and chirped in Sasuke's hand as wind started to swirl and spin in a sphere in Naruto's.  
>They ran towards each other, not even noticing the nearing presence of their pink haired teammate or their sensei.<p>

"SASUKE!" Naruto yelled.

"NARUTO!" Sasuke screamed back.

They were so close, only few feet away, minus their arms' length. Then in a flash of pink, Naruto and Sasuke's view of each other were blocked. Except all they could see was red and all time seemed to have froze.

The sky started to turn gray with rain clouds as it was moving in.

Kakashi arrived in time to see his only female student run in front of Naruto with her arms spread out on either side of her to block their attacks at each other, facing Sasuke, only to have their attacks hit her instead.

Kakashi, Naruto and even Sasuke's eyes widened as they realized what just happened.

Naruto's Rasengan had hit her mid back but Sasuke's Chidori had cut into her chest, right through her heart.

Sakura coughed up blood and it landed on Sasuke's face. His face was still shocked as he flinched and quickly pulled his hand out of her chest, his hand drenched in her blood.

The sudden movement made Sakura cough and blood dripped from the corners of her mouth. She started to fall forward and Sasuke reached out to catch her but Naruto, his face turned from shocked to worried, got to her first and set her down gently on the ground.

Kakashi was at her side in a flash. "Sakura!"

Sasuke stared at the scene in shock as Sakura tried to sit up but Naruto gripped her shoulders firmly and gently laid her back down. Naruto's face was a mixture of worry, panic, anger, and fear.

Sakura struggled to say something but her blood was welling in her throat and she coughed again, blood staining her clothes and dripping from her lips. All they heard was the gurgling of her blood in her throat.

Naruto brushed her bangs gently from her face."Sakura-chan, don't talk." He smiled sadly and his eyes started to feel wet.

"Save your energy. We'll get Granny Tsunade right now to heal you and..." He had started crying and sobbing as he looked down at her. He was unable to finish his sentence because he had started to hiccup.

"Na...ruto," She said through the blood, and she turned her head away to spit the blood out, but it continued to well up in her throat.

"S-Sakura-chan! Please stop! Don't talk!" He turned to look up at Kakashi, who had been sitting in the otherside of Sakura, watching the scene with sad eyes. Naruto's eyes were wide with panic and worry."Go and get Granny Tsunade!"

Kakashi didn't move but just stare at him sadly. "Naruto," He said calmly."Lady Tsunade was taken into one of the cocoons and is in a genjutsu."

Naruto yelled at him, hugging Sakura to his chest as the tears continued to run."Then break the genjutsu! We need her to heal Sakura-chan right now!"

Kakashi shook his head at him. "None of us can break the genjutsu, Naruto. Only Sasuke can."

Sakura's breathing became ragged and she coughed up blood again. Naruto turned to look at Sasuke, who had stood back watching Sakura with shock.

"Sasuke! Hurry and get Granny Tsunade!" Naruto yelled and his voice cracked.

Sasuke looked at Naruto, his shocked expression unchanged, but he didn't move.

"Sasuke, don't you understand!? Sakura needs help! If you don't get Granny Tsunade, she could...she could..." Naruto stuttered, not wanting to finish. Then he felt a cold hand on his cheek and they all looked down at Sakura.

"Naruto...It's," She managed to say before she started to have a coughing fit. Suddenly Sasuke was at her side, next to Naruto. His face turned from shocked to worry and fear.

Then his eyes became hooded and hid under his bangs. "Why? Why would you do this?" He said through gritted teeth.

Sakura turned away to spit out the blood that continued to well up in her throat and turned back to Sasuke. If she was the old Sakura, the one that had confessed her undying love to him and was emotional about almost everything, she would probably be crying by now and would have answered with 'Because I love you'. Instead, her face was hard and serious, but at the same time soft and kind.

"Because," She said and gave a small humorless smile."I don't want to see Naruto on the ground half dead." She managed to say without choking on her own blood. Her eyes were slowly becoming unfocused and she could see a bright light growing in her vision.

Sasuke stared at her shocked at what she had said. Naruto's gaze swiveled between the two with shock.

She turned back to Naruto and his gaze stopped at her."Naruto, it's ok," She said and this time genuinely smiled at him."We all know that I'm not going to-" Her body gave a jerk and she coughed up more blood."-Make it."

Her eyes were starting to loose its shine and Sakura's breathing was becoming slow and steady."Naruto, before I leave everyone, tell Master Tsunade, when you save her, that I finally understand." She said, her voice became hoarse. "And tell her it's not a bad thing."

Naruto looked at her confused and worried, his brow furrowed."What do you mean 'understand'?"

Sakura shook her head at him. "Just tell her." She rasped.

Sakura's eyelids felt like they weighed a ton and she struggled to keep them open. Her vision was starting to become blurry and the white light was growing brighter.

"Sakura-chan! I still don't understand! Why would you do this!?" He said worriedly.

Sakura smiled again. "I told you. Because I don't want to see you half dead. Naruto," She said and started having another fit. After she was done, she motioned for him to get closer and...

She kissed him on the cheek. Shocked, he pulled away and blushed. Blood stained his cheek.

She wasn't able to keep her eyelids open any longer and they started to droop. Her vision was so blurry and the light so blinding that she could barely see Naruto's figure.

"The next time I see you, you've better become Hokage by then." She managed to say without coughing blood. Her voice was crystal clear and stern, not hoarse or raspy.

Naruto was taken aback by her statement and he blinked in surprise./p

_Hokage?_ He thought incredilously. How could she think of him becoming Hokage when she was dying?

Then he thought of it as one of Sakura's dying will and his shocked expression turned to determination. He nodded at her.

Sakura let out a sigh of relief. "Good. Thank you." She said to no one in particular as she looked up at the now raining sky. The light in her vision was flaring by now.

She took one last look at Naruto one last time before she past. And she could've sworn that she saw 12 year old Naruto with a concerned expression on his face.

_I wish things could've been different_, Was her last thought and her eyelids drooped lower.

Her eyelids fluttered closed and she died, a ghost of a genuine smile on her now peaceful face.

What she didn't know was that someone they didn't know wished exactly for the same thing, and decided to change. Everything.

**Hi! This is my first chapter! I hope you liked it. Sorta angsty and sad but it will get better. In case you hadn't noticed, this took place around chapter 690 or 680 something.**

**This is not over! I repeat!**

**Not. Over.**

**Oh, this is far from over!**

**I'll get to SasuSaku eventually.**

**CHECK OUT THE REST OF THE STORY ON MY WATTPAD.**

**My name's in my profile.**

**THANKS!**


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: From the End to the Beginning - A Chance to Change Your Future**

**Sakura's POV.**

"Haruno...Haruno...HARUNO!"

I woke up with a start and looked around frantically, unaware of what was happening. My hair was a mess and there was dry drool on my chin.

I focused my gaze on Iruka-sensei, who was standing in front of my desk in the back of the classroom.

"Huh? Oh hey, Iruka-sensei. What do you want?" I said tiredly. I was unaware of what was happening.

He shook his head and sighed. "Just pay attention." He walked back to the front of the classroom and stood behind the podium.

"As I was saying, tomorrow I will be announcing the teams and you will be meeting with your new squad leaders. From then-" I tuned myself out and looked out the window that I sat by.

_Hm. This reminds me of the day before Team 7 was formed, _I thought, still unaware of what was happening.

I smiled at the memory.

Minutes later the bell rang for lunch, and we all got up to leave the classroom.

I walked outside, my face blank and walked away from the kids and into the forest that surrounded the back of the school.

_This is just a dream, _I thought. _A memory before I pass into the afterlife._

At least, that's what I thought.

**NO POV.**

Sakura walked deeper and deeper into the woods and sat down under the shade of a tree. She sighed with bliss.

She waited for a few minutes, treasuring the peaceful silence of the "afterlife". There was no war. No Ten Tails. No destruction.

It was just peace.

This was just a glimpse of a good memory before everything fell apart. That's what she thought. The afterlife was just showing her a happy, peaceful moment before she was sent to...wherever she was supposed to go in the afterlife.

_A nice trip down memory lane and all but I like to go to...wherever I was supposed to go when I died,_ She thought.

She was startled because she hadn't expected an anwser. Her eyes widened from surprise.

_Sorry, but you can't, _A voice answered. It sounded like a girl.

Sakura stood up abruptly and turned her head to look behind her but saw no one. She furrowed her brow, her guard up.

"Who are you?" She said aloud."Show yourself!"

Nothing moved and the Voice spoke again.

_I'm speaking from inside your mind, _The Voice said. _No one but you can hear me...unless I want them to._

Out of habit, Sakura crouched down and moved a hand to her thigh to grab a kunai but she felt an empty holster. She looked down at her thigh and was surprised to see no weapons on her at all.

She looked up, her brow furrowed in rage. _Where are my weapons?_

The Voice ignored her question.

Realizing that the Voice wasn't going to talk about anything else, Sakura straightened up and composed herself, her expression serious and hard. She was scowling.

_Who are you and what do you want? _She said to the Voice in her mind.

_Who I am doesn't matter, and it's not what I want. It's more like what we want, _She answered.

Sakura raised an eyebrow in annoyance. _What are you talking about? Just send me to wherever I was supposed to go in the afterlife, _She said to the Voice.

_This isn't the afterlife, _The Voice said, straightforward. _You are living again._

Sakura's eyes widened in disbelief for a second but was replaced by sarcasm and she scoffed.

_Ha ha, _She said to the Voice, humorless. _Yeah. That's awesome. Yeah sure I'm alive, _She said to the Voice sarcastically.

_I'm not joking around, _The Voice said in her mind, her tone serious. _You are alive and back in the past._

Sakura rolled her eyes, now annoyed. _Yeah and I'm from the future, right? _She said to the Voice, sarcastically.

_Yes. I'm serious, Sakura. I brought you back to life and put you back in the past. _The Voice said.

_No, I died. _She said to the Voice, now serious. _I'm just reliving a memory before I'm sent into the afterlife._

Sakura could have sworn she heard the Voice sigh. _I'll prove to you that I brought you back to life, _The Voice said, irritatedly. _You can't feel pain when you're dead._

Suddenly, she felt a sharp pain on her arm and she hissed in pain, grasping a spot on her left shoulder. She took her hand away from her shoulder and looked at her hand.

There was blood.

Sakura's eyes widened and she looked down at her shoulder, shocked. There was a slight cut, not too deep but enough to get blood dripping from the wound.

_No, _She thought. She couldn't be alive.

_I know I died,_ She yelled at the Voice. _No one can survive getting their heart ripped out!_

_Well you did, _The Voice said. Sakura could practically see her smirking in her mind. _Because I made it happen._

_No, _She thought. This couldn't be happening. She knew she died. There was no way she could have survived.

_But you did, _The Voice said. _And there's a reason why I brought you back to life and put you in the past._

Sakura gritted her teeth in anger and was about to mentally flick off the Voice when she caught something move from the corner of her eyes. Then she heard a noise and the sound of russelling leaves close by. She slowly backed away from the noise.

Something walked out from behind a bush near her and she instinctively pulled back a fist and threw it. She felt something unexpectingly warm wrap around her fist and she looked up at it in surprise. Her eyes widened and she silently gasped.

_What type of sick joke is this? _She thought.

Sakura could hear the smirk in the Voice again as she spoke. _I told you, _She said. _You're living in the past._

Standing in front of her was none other than the man that broke her heart, tried to kill her, and caused her death.

12 year old Sasuke Uchiha, stood in front of her, grasping her fist in his surprisingly warm hand and his face as stoic as ever.

It was silent as Sakura stood frozen to the spot and continued to stare at Sasuke in shock. She didn't even notice that her equipment had appeared back on her a while ago. He stared back as he slowly pushed her fist away from his face to her, still holding her hand. He was wearing his forehead protecter, and it looked unnatural to see it there again.

"Oi," He said. "Watch it. You almost hit me."

Sakura blinked and realized that she'd been staring. Her disbelief immediately turned into anger. Anger for betraying not just her, but Naruto and a whole bunch of other people that cared about him. Anger for trying to destroy their home. Anger for trying to kill her master and the other Kage.

She clenched her teeth and forcefully pulled her hand from his grasp. She glared at him, which could be on par of Sasuke's. Maybe even better and scarier.

Sasuke didn't show it but he blinked, surprised. He was actually surprised that Sakura was glaring at him so coldly, harshly. As if he'd done something wrong to her. She's a fangirl. Or she was.

If only he knew.

"Don't touch me," Sakura hissed at him before walking back towards the Academy. Her hands clenched into fists and she gritted her teeth together to stop the tears that had almost spilled in front of him, the cut on her shoulder forgotten. Its blood dripped down her arm.

_That bastard, _She thought. _He's got balls to talk to me like that after what he's done._

He watched her leave with little interest and she could feel his stare practically burning into the back of her head.

She walked faster to the Academy and minutes later the bell rang for class.

**In the class...**

Sakura didn't participate or talk at all during the rest of the school day.

Many kids in the class noticed this. Even kids she didn't know noticed her unusal silence.

During class, she had sat in her seat in the back of the class, head in her hand as she leaned on it and stared blankly out the window.

It actually bothered some of them, especially some _certain_ future gennin, even if it was free time since they graduated.

To them, it was unnatural to see the normally overconfident and bubbly pink haired girl to act so...distant and cold.

So Sasuke.

This did not go unnoticed by Shikamaru. He even noticed the unusual new cut on her shoulder that'd been bandaged by the school nurse before she got into class. He noticed how deep in thought Sakura had been after she had suddenly fallen asleep during class. That too was unusual for the pink haired girl, considering she was very intelligent and paid a lot of attention during class. Even if it was unimportant. She was practically almost as smart as him. If she had never been a fangirl, she'd probaby have a higher IQ closer to his, maybe even higher.

He had pondered for a while if something had happened that might have changed her mood and personality so suddenly, but he shrugged it off.

_Too troublesome, _He thought. _I shouldn't get myself involved in someone's personal business._

Then the last bell rang to go home.

**Sakura's POV.**

I took my time walking home, a blank expression on my face. I thought about Sasuke again and my eyes narrowed angrily. I gritted my teeth.

_That ass, _I thought, angry. _I swear I'll-_

_Oi, are you done seething in pointless rage yet? It's been hours already._

My thoughts were interrupted by the Voice and I almost jumped out of my skin. I forgot that the Voice was here.

_No shit you forgot about me, _The Voice said. _I'm not done with you._

**NO POV. (A/N: Sorry about the sudden shift in POV. -.-')**

_Yeah, _Sakura said. She wondered how she knew that she forgot about her but shrugged it off and asked, _What did you mean earlier by 'what we want'?_

The Voice ignored her question. _I'll talk to you later, _She said.

Sakura's eyes widened and she said aloud,"Wait!" Sakura looked around to see if anyone saw her, but the street was empty of life. She saw a tumbleweed roll by.

She sweat dropped. _Why did I take this street to my apartment again?_

She sighed. Looks like her questions will have to wait.

**Later that night...**

**Sakura's POV.**

I went to bed that night, hoping the Voice(I call her that) would speak to me again and answer my questions.

I laid awake in my bed, waiting for the Voice to talk to me. She hadn't spoken since earlier when I was on my way home. I stayed awake for hours, until the I could see the stars slowly starting to disappear from the sky to signify that it was almost morning. It was almost sunrise till I finally gave in to my drowsiness and let darkness engulf me into a dreamless sleep.

**In Sakura's Dream...**

Sakura found herself standing in...white? Everything was white. Like a sheet of white paper you stare into and it's as if it was endless.

Sakura craned her head to look around her but saw nothing in sight. Then she could feel someone staring at her and she turned back quickly to see no one.

She sighed in relief and turned to look in front. Her eyes widened in surprise and she stumbled back.

Out of nowhere, a girl about 12 or 13 with brown tinted black hair that reached past her shoulders and fell in layers, stood a few feet in front of her. She was a few inches shorter and and Sakura quickly noticed the girl had an over developed chest.

Sakura looked at the girl's chest with jealousy.

She had perfectly tanned skin and freckles that crossed over her face with plump, full lips that were set in a firm line. Her long bangs were streaked a brighter brown and were parted to the right. Sakura looked at the girl's eyes and was surprised. She had silver speckled dark brown eyes. They looked bored.

The girl wore unrecognizable civilian clothing. She had black ninja boots but other than that, everything else was unrecognizable. She wore a short black cloak with pockets and no zipper with its hood down **(A/N: In Naruto, they don't have hoodies, so Sakura doens't know what it's called.) **and black jean shorts. She wore no armor or ninja gear, and she didn't look like a threat.

The girl put her hands in the pockets of the short cloak and looked at Sakura lazily.

She sighed. "So I guess I might as well start with introductions. I'm the Voice. M-"

Sakura lunged at the girl with full intent to kill her and the girl who turned out to be the Voice in her head dodged to the left.

This girl just appears out of nowhere and puts this stupid crap on her. Who was she to pull all this nonsense? She could have died with no regrets-

"That's the thing," The girl yelled at her as she continued to dodge Sakura's attacks. "You died with regrets!"

Sakura suddenly froze, her fist in the air ready to swing it at her. She furrowed her brow, confused. Again with the mind reading.

She asked,"What are you talking about?"

The girl stood up from her crouched position, waiting to evade any attack that would come to her.

"The reason why I brought you back to life," She said, steadily."was so I can bring you back in time. We have something in common."

Sakura was breathing heavily and she raised an eyebrow questionably. "What?" She asked.

"We both wished for a different ending. "

Sakura's eyes widened for a moment then her fist was slowly brought down her her side. She closed her eyes and calmed herself before speaking.

"Who are you and what did you mean when you said 'what we want'?" She asked calmly.

The girl sighed in relief and sat down on the white floor, cross legged. She ignored her question."I'm the Voice, but I have a name too. For now you can call me, Mato. It's not my real name but my real one's longer and doesn't sound like it comes from the same language as yours."

Sakura stared hard at Mato. "I don't care about your name. I can call you the Voice for all I care. What I want to know is _what _exactly you are." She said.

Mato craned her head, confused. "What do you mean?" She asked.

Sakura's brow twitched in annoyance. "I mean what I said. How can you be inside my mind? How is all this," Sakura motioned to the white around them. "-possible?"

Mato scoffed. "That's rude." Then she sighed again. "I'd thought you'd be more polite and thankful, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised."

An irritation mark appeared on Sakura's forehead and she lunged at Mato again, but she froze in mid air. Her eyes widened, shocked.

"W-what the hell?" She said incredulously before she unfroze and landed on her stomach on the floor with an 'oof'.

Mato smirked. "As for what I am, I'm someone even greater than your God of Ninja. Greater than the _Sage of Six Paths_." She said with a hint of smugness.

Sakura stared up at Mato shocked for a moment. Then she turned to look away from the girl and brought a hand up to cover a snicker.

Mato frowned. "What are you laughing at? It's true."

Now Sakura was laughing. She covered her mouth to muffle her laughter. "I'm sorry," She apologized, although it didn't sound like it. She just couldn't believe that this girl, shorter and chubbier than her, was greater that the Sage of Six Paths.

"Hey! I'm not chubby!" Mato yelled suddenly. Sakura glanced at her, shocked again that she knew what she was thinking, as if she could read minds.

Mato nodded and smirked. "I can read minds." She said smuggly. "I could stop whenever I want to though." She assured as she waved her hands.

Sakura gave her an disbelieving look but shrugged it off. She realized Mato was also probably the cause of her frozen and fall. She sighed. It was obvious the strange girl-

"Hey!" Mato said indignantly.

-can read minds. More specifically, hers.

Then she remembered her question hadn't been answered. She gave Mato a look that said 'You're avoiding my question'.

Mato smiled apologetically and scratched the back of her neck self-consciously. " No, I'm not avoiding your question. I tend to get distracted easily. Sorry."

Then her expression became serious and she continued, "Like I said earlier, we both wanted a different ending. That's the reason why you're here now."

Sakura tried to remember when she did wish for that but couldn't recall a moment. Although she felt like the memory was at the tip of her tongue, but she just couldn't get it.

Mato noticed this and added,"You wished for a different ending right before you died so your memory is probably a little fuzzy."

Sakura was silent for a moment. How could all this be possible? Time travel, telepathy, telekinesis?

Sakura wondered what power did this one girl have over her.

Mato smirked again and her gaze held an evil gleam. "I'm more powerful than Kaguya." She said, a little darkly.

Sakura stared at the girl, her face blank, but inside she was a nervous wreck. She had a bad feeling in her stomach and all she wanted to do was run away, but she was frozen in place. If this girl could read her mind and say she's more powerful than Kaguya, who knows what else she could do. She had to think of something else quick.

Then she pondered why she was brought here in the first place. What was she supposed to do here?

Sakura looked at Mato curiously, ignoring her fright, and asked,"Why did you bring me back in time?"

The evil gleam disappeared from her eyes immediately as if it was never there and was replaced with clear irritation. "What do you think? So you can change their future. _Your future_." She emphasized the last part, exasperated.

Sakura eyes widened, surprised. She hadn't thought of that. But what could she do? She was only 12.

Mato shook her head disdainfully. She sighed."You really didn't think you could take advantage of this opportunity?" She asked as she gave an incredulous look.

"You're originally 17 with knowledge of what's going to happen in the future. I can't believe you sometimes," She added and she restrained herself from face palming.

Sakura looked away, flushing with embarrassment. Then she realized something and looked at Mato.

Sakura asked,"If you're so powerful, why don't you just-"

Mato broke in and said,"I could," She blinked and sighed. She said, cooly,"But I won't."

Sakura stared at her, shocked. She shook her head incredulously and asked,"What? If you're so powerful, you could stop the Uchiha Massacre! You could've stopped Orochimaru from giving Sasuke the Curse Mark! You-"

"I know," Mato said, interrupting her again. She gave Sakura a sadistic smirk. "But I'm not gonna," She said.

Sakura looked at her. Why would she do this? If she's so powerful, she could stop all the madness, stop Sasuke. But she just sits here, causing trouble for her.

She gritted her teeth together and yelled at Mato angrily,"Why not!? Why won't you fix all this!? You said you're more powerful than Kaguya! If you were, then you could fix this messed up world!" Then she realized something and she sneered,"Or is it that you are weak and powerless?"

Mato gave her a dark look and her voice was as cold as ice. "Look who's talking," She sneered at Sakura, smirking.

Sakura's eyes widened and she clenched her teeth before looking away. She was angry, not at Mato but at herself. She knew Mato was right.

Mato continued,"And you're wrong." Sakura glanced back at her and her eyes widened, pupils dilating. Mato's eyes became hooded and there was a strange gleam in her eyes. One that was dark and ominous.

Sakura was slightly frightened by the sudden change.

Mato said,"My power is," She smirked up at Sakura, her teeth white and perfect. Perfectly white and sharp.

"Whatever I want it to be."

Sakura stared at her. She was trembling as Mato continued to gaze at her and dark and malicious aura seemed to emit from her.

Salura could clearly feel the change of temperature in the atmosphere around them grow colder and darker, even though the white world around them continued to stay.

This girl was insane. She wants to change the future but she's practically telling her that she isn't someone to mess with and doesn't want to change the most critical things.

Sakura's eyes widened again. _If she could read minds, she could still hear my thoughts, _She thought, realization hitting her.

Then, as if nothing had happened, the air shifted from cold and eery to warm and happy.

Mato's dark gaze and scary scowl turned into a huge grin and her eyes crinkled happily.

"Anyway, you should get going. A couple minutes here is like several hours in the real world," She said. Then her eyes widened, remembering something. She looked up curiously and added,"Now that I think about it, it's probably almost 8 AM in the real world."

.

.

.

"NANI!?" Sakura screamed, her eyes wide. She looked around the white world they were in, looking for an exit.

She screamed shrilly again,"I'M GOING TO BE LATE!"

And with that, started her second chance to change their future.

**THANK YOU FOR READING THE FIRST CHAPTER OF MY NEW STORY **

**THROW-BACK THURSDAY **!


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Tests to Retake - A Chance to Cheat or a Chance to Ruin?**

Sakura opened her eyes and abruptly sat up from her bed, looking at the clock.

It was 7:50 AM.

Sakura quickly got up frantically and stumbled to her bathroom to brush her teeth. After she was finished with the bathroom, she ran out and quickly threw open her closet door. She looked around for something to wear.

All she saw were inconvenient, ugly dresses.

Sakura growled in frustration. _Fuck it. I don't have time, _She thought in a hurry.

She grabbed one and threw it on, grabbing her forehead protecter. She gazed down at it, remembering how naíve she was when she put it on.

She narrowed her eyes and tied it over her head as usual. She took one quick look in her full length mirror once more. Her pink hair was a little frazzled, but she didn't care.

She'd cut it later.

Sakura ran down stairs to the kitchen and to the front door, saying her 'byes' to her mother and father before running out the door and down the street towards the Academy.

_I don't have time, _She thought and looked up towards the roofs of the buildings she ran by. _I'll travel by rooftop._

She jumped up and landed gracefully on a tiled roof. She ran full speed and headed in the direction of the Academy.

As she neared the Academy, she could see one of the windows of her class were open and she hastened her pace. She jumped straight through the open window and landed in an empty seat next to Shikamaru just as Iruka started to call the names of team 3.

There was the loud sound of skidding wood and shifting positions and all heads, excluding Sasuke, turned towards the back corner of the classroom. They saw Sakura who hadn't been there before breathing heavily and her hair askew. Shikamaru was looking at her as if she was crazy.

Sakura glanced down at her old seat, where she had sat between Naruto and Sasuke. It'd seemed that Ino took advantage of Sakura's tardiness and took her seat. She was trying to talk to Sasuke, but he continued to ignore her.

Iruka stared at the sight wide eyed. He sweatdropped and waved to her. "Haruno," He said. "Please refrain from jumping through the windows. Thank you."

She nodded at Iruka and breathed a heavy sigh of relief before she laid her head on her desk tiredly. She was exhausted. She guessed that her stamina wasn't as good as it was in the future.

As Iruka continued to announce the members of the teams, Sakura had drifted off into a dreamless sleep and Shikamaru sleeping right next to her. They were quietly snoring in sync.

Ino turned back and had tried to wake her up a couple of times to brag and bet that she'd get on Sasuke's team but she failed to do so. In frustration, she gave up and continued to_ try _to start a conversation with Sasuke who continued to stare out the window, ignoring her.

_Seriously, _Ino thought, glancing at her ex best friend. _What is up with Forehead today?_

**Minutes later...**

"...Team 7!"

Sakura woke up with a start, nearly knocking over Shikamaru in the process and he woke up.

Iruka continued,"Sakura Haruno..."

Now he had Sakura's full attention. She listened closely and leaned her head on her hand in anticipation, even though she already knew what he was going to say.

She mimicked the words as Iruka said them.

"Sakura Haruno..." She lipped and Shikamaru sideway glanced at her curiously.

"Naruto Uzumaki..." She lipped again and Shikamaru looked at Iruka to Sakura shocked. Sakura didn't notice his stare and Naruto jumped up and cheered.

"And Sasuke Uchiha." Sakura didn't lip his name. Instead, she glared knives into the back of his head as other girls started yelling in protest at Iruka and Sakura in the background. Shikamaru's gaze shifted between Sasuke and Sakura suspiciously.

_She isn't fangirling. I repeat. She is NOT fangirling, _Shikamaru thought, panicking. He turned away, a drop of sweat trickled down his temple with panic. _Something really is wrong. This is serious._

Sakura stopped listening and looked out the window. Something caught her attention and she side glanced at Shikamaru. His back was turned to her and his hands were on his temples in a strongly confused manner. An aura of extreme panic and confusion was emitting from him and Sakura raised an eyebrow at with innocent curiosity.

She shrugged it off, guessing it was a guy thing, and turned her head to look out the window.

_Not again, _She thought and her expression turned into determination. _I won't make any mistakes. Not this time._

Minutes later after the teams were assigned, they were dismissed for lunch and were told to meet with their sensei's after.

**Outside with Sakura...**

She walked down the stone path towards the stone bench she used in her other life, holding a box of dango she quickly bought and a bamboo bottle of tea.

She sat down and was deep in thought.

Thoughts about Sasuke.

She gritted her teeth together, the grip on the bamboo bottle tightening and it cracked. She glared down where her lunch laid untouched on her lap and seethed.

_Baka Sasuke. Stupid. Dum. Idiot Sasuke_, She thought angrily.

She was still angry at Sasuke. She held a grudge against him. Not because he caused her death, but because he caused the people that cared about him so much pain. Even when Naruto insisted that he would save him, she knew he too was also angry with Sasuke for the same reasons, although he didn't show it or dwell on it.

Then she realized she was thinking about Sasuke. _Again._

She sighed irritably. She continued to glare down at her lap and growled before putting the leaking cracked bottle down next to her and forcing the box open, taking a stick of dango. As she bit off the strawberry flavored one at the top, she thought it was delicious and she felt a little happy. For once in a while, she smiled. A gentle smile.

She put the box to the side and held the stick of dango in her hand, savoring the taste of strawberries.

_This is nice, _She thought, still smiling slightly. _I haven't-_

She felt a familiar presence and her guard was up in a second. She looked up, the stick of dango in her mouth.

Across from her, Sasuke leaned against a tree with his arms crossed, smiling at her.

Sakura narrowed her eyes at him, still chewing, and turned her head to look away, not blushing. At all.

She glanced at Sasuke from the corner of her eyes suspiciously. Something told her that this was not the Sasuke she knew. The way he smiled so easily, the way he was so relaxed. The way he walked towards her -_ Wait, what?_

"Sasuke" was now standing in front of her and he was still _smiling_.

She knew exactly who it was before she sensed his chakra signature.

He spoke up first. "Sakura," He said, trying to sound cool. "Your forehead is so wide and shiny it makes me feel like kissing it."

Sakura sighed and put down the empty skewer down in the box. She looked up at "Sasuke" and gave him a long cold stare, her eyes uncaring and bored. Her lips were set in a firm line.

It set "Sasuke" into a cold sweat and he started getting nervous.

He stuttered,"S-so, Sakura," He sat down next her. He smiled at her, trying to look as calm as he could. "I want to ask you something."

Sakura nodded at him, staring at him coldly.

"What do you think about Naruto?"

Sakura blinked. _I knew it._

She sighed again and stood up before she stood in front of him. She moved so she was leaning in front of him and her face would be a few inches in front of his.

"Sasuke" leaned back and blinked a few times, confused. He flushed a little.

"N-Nani? What are you doing?" He asked. She closed her eyes and leaned in more closer, making the distance between them smaller and smaller.

"Sasuke's" eyes widened in realization and he leaned in a little too as he closed his eyes. They were only centimeters apart.

He continued to lean in and...

He fell over.

He scrambled to sit up, shock written all over his face and he looked up. Sakura loomed over him, a dark and serious expression replaced the cold, blank stare she'd worn.

A drop of sweat trickled down "Sasuke's" temple as he nervously smiled up at her.

"Uhhh...so," He spoke up nervoulsy and raised an eyebrow. "No kiss?"

Sakura rolled her eyes and raised an eyebrow back at him before she spoke. Her voice was lazy and indifferent.

"Naruto, you actually thought I was going to kiss you?"

There was a puff of smoke and the spot on the bench that "Sasuke" had occupied was filled with a pouting Naruto.

"How'd ya know it was me?" He asked curiously, disappointment lacing his voice.

Her face was serious and her lips were set in a firm line. She held up a finger towards him.

"First off, Sasuke doesn't let his guard down," She explained, referring to when "Sasuke-transformed" Naruto fell over. Then she held up two fingers.

"Second, Sasuke doesn't smile at girls. In fact, he doesn't smile at all. He mopes."

Naruto looked at Sakura, his brow furrowed in confusion as he processed this information she was giving him.

She then held up three fingers. "Last but not least, third, Sasuke doesn't care for other people. He is _heartless,_" She said coldly and her eyes narrowed at nothing as she said that last part.

Naruto's eyes widened for a moment as he'd listened. _This isn't like Sakura-chan at all, _He thought. But being Naruto, he put it aside. For now.

Sakura sat back down and held out a stick of dango towards him as she raised an eyebrow again, silently offering him it. She was acting as if what she had said was normal.

Naruto shook his head at the offering. "No thanks, I'm good," He declined.

Sakura shrugged and gathered her dango box before she stood up again and popped the stick of dango into her mouth. She turned to walk away down the path, but before she took a full step, she stopped and turned back to Naruto.

"That, and it wasn't your chakra signature," She added, nonchalantly. Naruto stared at her with shock as she turned and walked away.

As his eyes trailed after her, he wondered what happened to the nice and loud Sakura he knew.

He was startled when he heard a menacing and feral-like growl coming from the opposite direction of where Sakura walked away.

"NA-RU-TO!" Naruto turned back to find Sasuke trudging down the path angrily towards him, his fists clenched and his mouth in a snarl.

Naruto scooted away from him, still sitting on the bench. He sweat dropped nervously.

"H-hey, Sasuke! How's it goin'? Where were you?"

Sasuke stopped in front of Naruto and growled,"You-"

He stopped to glanced down, still frowning. He looked back at Naruto, pointing downward.

"Did you seriously piss yourself?"

Naruto blinked, confused and he looked down at his lap. It was soaked with green tea. Next to him, was an empty cracked bamboo bottle.

He looked back up at Sasuke, panicking. "NO!"

**Later after lunch...**

Kakashi walked down the hall, towards his new team. He was in deep thought.

_Is the Hokage really serious? _He thought.

He was standing outside the door now and he sighed tiredly before he reached to slid the door open. He was about to step in when he felt something fall on his head and land on the floor with a thud.

It was a stupid chalkboard eraser.

_I don't see any teamwork here, _He thought. _But they could have planned this together._

His lone eye that wasn't hidden behind his forehead protecter moved to scan the room. The last Uchiha, Sasuke, sat closest to him, hands intertwined under his nose and ignoring anyone and everyone. The Kyuubi jinchuriki, Naruto, was standing not far from him, laughing and tears were forming at the corners of his eyes. Then his eye trailed to the far end of the room, where the normal, civilian-born girl known as Sakura sat on a chair gazing out the window, not paying any attention to her new teammates.

_I definitely don't see any teamwork here, _He thought.

He spoke up after Naruto finished laughing off.

"Meet me on the roof," He instructed before he disappeared in a puff of white smoke.

As Naruto and Sasuke left, no one noticed, but there were teardrops on Sakura's desk.

She had been weeping in silence. The whole day and yesterday after she had found out she was living in the past, she had been holding back with every fiber of her being from hugging every one of her friends, her family. But she knew she couldn't show she was from the future. She knew she couldn't tell the truth. _Not to anyone._

She quickly wiped them away with the back of her hand.

_Crying, _She thought, angrily as she stood up. _Is a weakness. There is no use in crying and there is no room for weaknesses._

She made her way out of the classroom and up the stairs to the roof. Determined, she thought, _This will be the last I cry. I promise._

**Minutes later on the roof...**

Kakashi observed his new team with critical eye, without showing it of course. He quietly noted Sakura's face, which looked like she had been crying with the slight trails of dry tears on her face. If he wasn't a jounin, he may have not notice it. The other two sure didn't.

The three new graduates were sitting on the steps next to each other, Naruto in the middle while Sasuke sat to his right with hands folded under his nose again and Sakura's head leaning on her hand on her knee to his left. Although, she sat with a light distance between her and the other two, enough to make it unnoticeable.

Almost unnoticeable.

He was the first to speak up. "So tell me about yourselves," He said.

No one spoke. They obviously didn't know what to say. Except the pink-haired girl, but Kakashi and the other two didn't know that.

Kakashi sighed,"Tell me your names, likes, dislikes, hobbies, dreams for the future," He shrugged. "Stuff like that."

He motioned to Naruto. "You go first."

Naruto grinned confidently. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki," He announced enthusiasictally. "I like - no - _love -_"

Sakura cut in. She had been silent for a while.

"Why don't you go first?" She asked Kakashi as innocently as she could, but her voice came out low. Still sounds like a girl but low. It's hard to act innocent when you've experienced war and heartbreak at the same time. But it seemed convincing. "We don't even know your name."

Kakashi pointed at himself, pretending to be confused. "Me?"

"I'm Kakashi Hatake. Things I like and things I hate," He paused to think before resuming. "I don't feel like telling you that."

Naruto looked at him in confusion. Sakura sweatdropped and her brow twitched in annoyance with the slightest movement.

_That's because you don't want us to know that you like reading your shitty-ass porn all day and hate when you someone disturbs you, _She thought, annoyed.

He continued. "My dreams for the future," He paused again to think. "I've never really thought about it. As for my hobbies...I have lots of hobbies."

They didn't say anything, but Sakura and Naruto were sure thinking the same thing, even if Sakura already kne that was going to happen.

_This was pointless, _They thought.

"Okay, now back to you," He said as he nodded to Naruto. "You were saying."

Naruto fiddled his forehead protecter as he restarted, using Kakashi's little intro as a guide.

"Beleive it! I'm Naruto Uzumaki," He announced enthusiastically again. "I like instant ramen in a cup and I really like the ramen Iruka-sensei got me at Ichiraku ramen shop. But I hate..."

Kakashi sweatdropped at Naruto.

"...And my future dream is," Naruto paused for dramatic affect. "To be the greatest Hokage! Then the whole village will stop disrespecting me and start treating me like a somebody. Somebody important," He added.

_Oh, he's grown up in a very interesting way, _Kakashi thought. He noticed Sakura had a small, gentle smile that was almost unnoticeable. To those two boys at least.

He sighed, "Alright, next."

There was a moment of silence. Sakura stayed quiet until Sasuke finally decided to introduce himself.

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha," He said. "I hate a lot of things and I don't particularly like anything."

His face had a dark and determined look as he continued darkly, "What I have is not a dream, because I will make it a reality. I'm going to restore my clan and destroy a certain someone."

_Just as I thought, _Kakashi thought.

Sakura rolled her eyes, annoyed, and Kakashi noted that tiny act of hers too.

There was another moment of awkward silence until Kakashi spoke up. "Okay. Last one," He said as he turned to look at the silent, pink-haired girl.

Sakura nodded at him. "I'm Sakura Haruno," She said in a normal tone. If you call robotic a human tone of voice.

"I like the color," She paused to think and resumed. "- red and dango. I don't have to tell you what I hate." Her voice hardened at that last part. "And I don't have to tell you my dreams or hobbies," She concluded lightly.

Naruto gave her a questioning look and Sasuke continued to ignore them.

"Good, you're each unique and you all have your own ideas. We have our first mission tomorrow," Kakashi said, casually. He ignored the awkwardness.

**After they realize they have to pass a survival test...**

**Later that night at the training grounds...7:50 PM**

Sakura walked through the trees and stood at the edge of a clearing. She sighed tiredly.

_I hope it works, _She thought.

_It better. Or you are fucked, _Mato replied, straightforward.

Sakura restrained herself from mentally flicking Mato off and focused her chakra into her fist slowly.

_So far so good, _She thought. _My chakra control is still good. Next comes the hard part._

She raised her fist and looked down the ground in front of her. She narrowed her eyes and aimed at a spot.

_Okay. Here goes._

She brought her fist down and the second her fist made contact, she released her chakra into the ground. She heard the sound of rocks cracking and she stood up straight. She observed her work, disdainfully.

It only made a crack and her knuckles were scratched pretty badly.

Sakura cringed in pain. _Argh! Okay, that hurt a little, _She thought.

_Hey, look on the bright side, _Mato said, enthusiastically.

Sakura clenched her teeth in frustration.

_What bright side? _She thought angrily. _It's not even one fourth as big as the one's I made months before I took the chunnin exams the second time. And I was in my _eighth _month of training! I was barely able to make a small crater!_

_Maybe so, but it's bigger than the first time you tried it, neh? It's 6 inches long, _Mato said.

Sakura rolled her eyes. She concentrated chakra into her left hand and held it over the scrapes on her knuckles, focusing on healing the broken tissue and cells and her chakra turned a minty green.

_I can't use medical ninjutsu well either, _Sakura thought sadly. She had tried to heal the scrapes fully, but she only managed to close them a little. And it wasn't even close.

_My chakra levels aren't as high either,_ She thought, realizing that also explained the small results.

She would have to train the whole night without breaks to at least make a tiny crater the size of her fist, which was small and petite for her lean figure.

She sighed.

_This is going to be a long night, _She thought, tiredly.

**Early the next morning...2:30 AM**

Sakura was on the verge of collapsing by the time she felt like she was good. She had trained nonstop the whole night, with only two two minute water breaks and three minutes to meditate so she could replenish a little chakra. When she finally finished, she grinned at the sight. The training ground she used was full of cracks, medium size craters, and debris.

She beamed proudly and fell, laying on her back in the middle of the broken training field.

She looked up at the slowly brightening sky. The sun was just rising over the horizon and the sky was clear of clouds.

Sakura sighed happily.

_Peace was all there is in this time line. I miss this, _She thought, happily remembering the good times she had in her first life with her friends and family.

Then Sakura's face became grim and she gritted her teeth, pissed.

_No. As I'm laying here, doing nothing, my enemies are scheming and readying themselves to destroy my home,_ She thought, angry at herself for indulging in selfish bliss.

Stiffly, she attempted to sit up. Unfortunetly, she'd pushed herself to her limits while she was training and fell back down. She breathed heavily and gazed sadly at the bright and peaceful sky.

_Hey, Mato, _She called. _You there._

There was a short moment of silence before she replied.

_Yeah, I'm here. What do you want?_

Sakura was quiet, thinking, before she spoke. _What happened to everyone else?_

Sakura couldn't see her, but Mato raised an eyebrow, curiously. _What do you mean?_

_I mean, I'm here in this time, but what happened to the others. Naruto, my friends, my parents, _She said quietly and paused, daring herself to say it. _And Sasuke._

Mato stayed silent, pondering on what to say. It was silent for so long, Sakura could feel the blood pulsing in her neck and hear the calm beat of her heart.

It felt like hours but was actually agonizing seconds until Mato finally spoke.

_I don't know, _She said quietly. Her face was serious, but her eyes looked happy and sad at the same time. She smiled gently. But Sakura couldn't see it.

Mato decided to change the subject. _What's up with you? It's not like you to talk. Much less ask questions, _She stated, furrowing her brow in confusion.

Sakura shrugged._ I'm just curious, _She said, nonchalantly. Only a while ago had she been gazing sadly at the sky. She was obviously hiding her true feelings. She felt like she would cry if she actually let them out.

Mato shrugged it off and Sakura spoke again.

She asked, _How did you that?_

Mato gave her a look. _Hm?_

_How did you bring me back in time? What about time pardoxes and stuff?_

Mato paused to think, pondering on how to explain. _Well, I wanted to avoid anything that could happen to your own body first, _She explained. _I should start from the beginning._

_There are three critical parts that make us human. A sound mind, body and soul. I wanted to leave your corpse undamaged. Or at least not more damaged than it already was. A human can not live without a soul. Since you were already dying at the time, I thought it would be okay if I also took your mind. Just before your soul could crossover, I took your mind and soul and traveled into the past._

Sakura nodded, listening intently as Mato continued.

_I traveled to the past to the day before Team 7 was formed. When I stuffed — put,_ Mato corrected frantically. — _your soul and mind into your 12 year old body, your 12 year old self fell asleep._

Sakura broke in. _What happened to my 12 year old self? Then _Sakura thought about something and asked worriedly, _Was it transfered into my dead body?_

Mato shook her head. _No, I would have to do that manually. It's still there,_ Mato assured her._ Since your 17 year old mind and soul was wiser and stronger, it dominated your twelve year old body and took control. Your twelve year old soul and mind are just unconscious. You could say they're in a coma._

_I also wanted to avoid a time paradox..._ Mato had to pause. She had to think of a reason, but she coudn't think of an excuse. _For various reasons. Whatever you do in this time could affect the future. But time paradoxes can only be caused if a body with both a mind and soul travel into a different time._

Sakura didn't understand why Mato wanted to avoid a paradox, since that was what they were basically doing, but she ignored it and shook her head. Something else was pulling at her curiosity. Her brow furrowed in confusion. _I don't get it. Then where is my twelve year old mind and soul?_

_It's there. I mingled your soul and mind together. Lucky for you, it didn't cause any deformities, _Mato said, smiling mischievously.

Sakura sweat dropped nervously. _What do you mean by deformities?_

Mato shook her head at her, mischievously and smiled again. _Oh never mind!_

Sakura shrugged it off and realized something. She couldn't believe she hadn't noticed before. _What happened to Inner?! _She asked, panic in her voice.

_Huh?_ Mato said and looked to her left._ Oh, Inner? Yeah, she's here. I just put her on mute. She's really annoying._

In Mato's white realm inside Sakura's mind, Inner stood a few feet away from Mato, chained to a steel post with metallic duck tape over her mouth. She was wriggling in her captivity of chains and her eyes narrowed at her in anger. She tried to yell out something, but it was muffled from the duck tape.

Mato walked over to her and ripped the tape off her mouth. Inner gasped and cursed in pain.

"Damn it! That fucking hurt!" She glared at Mato and added, "Next time you want to exclude me from the conversation, you can suck my —"

She was silenced when Mato smirked and happily slapped the duck tape over her mouth again.

Sakura let out a sigh of relief, knowing Inner was still with her and chuckled, imagining what they did in her head and matching the dialogue.

Mato turned away from Inner's struggling body and put her hands on her hips. She said to Sakura, still smirking, _See? Nothing to worry about._

Sakura nodded in relief as her eyelids flutter closed, and she drifted into another dreamless sleep.

**6 hours and 50 minutes later...8:20 AM**

Sakura awoke, eyes snapping open in surprise, to Inner screaming in her mind. _SAKURA, WA-KEY, WA-KEY! YOU'RE GOING TO BE LATE!_

Shakily, Sakura sat up and rubbed her eyes with the back of her hands. She yawned, "What time is it?"

Inner yelled grumpily and Sakura guessed it was because of what Mato did to her._ It's time for you to get a fucking watch! Now get your ass moving! It's past eight!_

Sakura stretched her arms and legs out and yawned again. _So what? Kakashi's usually like 3 hours late, _She said.

Inner face palmed and gritted her teeth. _You were supposed to meet up at 5, Dumbass, _She said, frustrated.

Sakura yawned again and scratched her back. It took her a few seconds to process this.

Then her eyes widened and she abruptly stood up. She thought. _I'm going to be late!_

She took one step and stumbled. She looked down at her sore body frustratedly. Sakura gritted her teeth and reluctantly, through the pain, made her way into town.

She wasn't going to fight Kakashi in an inconvenient, dirty, torn dress.

_Nope._

**A little later...8:30 AM**

Kakashi turned to look back at Sakura, who was several yards away, running full speed towards them. He immediately noticed her new attire. And it wasn't a girly dress like before.

The day they met, after their meeting, Sakura went straight to the tailor store. Well not straight. She had gone home and designed her new clothes herself. She left and gave her designs to a family friend who owned a big clothing store in town and payed them in advanced to make her clothes. She payed extra, so they would have it done by tomorrow morning.

**(A/N: Gomen. I am too lazy to bother describing Sakura's new outfit. **_**She wears a smaller version of her clothes from Naruto the movie: The Last.**_** So just picture 12 year old Sakura in that! She still has long hair though. On with the story!)**

She stopped next to Naruto, resting her hands on her knees and taking deep breaths. Kakashi and Naruto stared at her while Sasuke continued to ignore them as usual.

"Sakura, you're three hours late," Kakashi said.

Sakura looked up and glared at him, not harshly as she did to Sasuke though. It was more tired and grumpy.

"Please," She scoffed. "I bet you got here minutes before I did." Sakura's body suddenly stiffened slightly at what she said.

_Crap, _She thought, panicked, still keeping a straight face. _He doesn't know that I know him. Did he notice? Dear Kami, please don't notice!_

"Hm," Kakashi didn't say anything. He couldn't say anything to that. You can't beat the facts. But how did she know that? She didn't even see him come appear out of no where like the other two. She arrived about ten minutes later.

"Fine," He said, brushing it off. He already knew he was infamous for being really late than the designated time. She probably heard about it from some other people. Then again, it doesn't hurt to be a little more cautious. He would find out some other time.

"As punishment for being late, I won't explain anything to you on what we're doing. You're going to have to figure that out on your own," He instructed sternly.

Sakura shrugged. She could guess on what they were doing...and how it would end.

"OK," Kakashi started. "When I say start, you start."

Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto, who was grinning confidently, nodded.

"Ready," Kakashi warned. "...Start!"

They disappeared.

Sakura hid several yards away, covering herself from view by standing behind thick branches high in a tree. From where she was standing, she had the perfect view of Kakashi, who stood calmly in the middle of the field near a creek. Then Naruto came in like a wrecking ball.

Loud and destructive.

_I'll wait, _She thought as she watched the scene with amusement and she smirked confidently. _Patience is a virtue. He's going to give us another chance anyway. I'll test my strength when he's done with _him_._

Outwardly, her face showed disgust as she thought of _him._ There was a dreadful feeling in her chest, but she ignored it.

Before she knew it, Kakashi had already disappeared.

Sakura's eyes widened as she felt a presence behind her. She quickly turned to find Kakashi making a hand sign. Leaves fell and she suddenly felt very tired, enough to sleep right on the spot.

As she started to fall back, she realized he was casting a genjutsu and as tired as she was, she used as much strength she could muster and broke the genjutsu just as she landed.

She yelped in slight pain and sat up.

_Damn, _She thought, exasperated. _Should've seen that one coming._

**Several minutes later...with Sasuke and Kakashi**

Next thing he knew, he was neck deep into the ground. He growled at Kakashi, who was kneeling in front of him.

_I almost had it, _He thought, frustrated. _I almost had it!_

Then in a flash of red and pink, he heard the sound of rocks shattering and saw debris flying everywhere.

He stared, shocked at the scene before him and sweat dropped.

Sakura stood in front of him, back turned to him, and in a fighting stance. She had done an ax kick, coming from up behind Kakashi and aiming for the spot where he had been standing.

Kakashi had dodged, back flipping several feet away.

_Hm, _He thought. _Another one. Is she defending him? Or is she out for herself?_

Sakura came at him again with her chakra enhanced fist raised. He dodged again as if it was nothing, but Sakura's fist continued on its path and she hit the ground Kakashi had been standing on moments before. The sound of rocks breaking and cracking filled their ears and Sakura smirked at their disbelieving faces.

There was a crater the size of _two _Sasuke's. Sasuke swallowed at the sight.

Sakura glanced at her fist. The black gloves she wore were slightly worn and were almost ready to rip. She would have to travel to the Land of Iron to get the actual gloves she'd worn in her first life. The pair she was given in the Land of Iron were high quality and were made for combat. They could withstand any damage any normal pair of gloves should have taken. She called them her Lucky Clovers. She had been wearing them when her missions were successful, passed the Chunnin exams, and fought Sasori.

She looked up at Kakashi and her eyes widened. Kakashi was gone.

She quickly glanced to either side of her and turned behind her. Then she looked up. No sign of him on land. Sakura smiled. She raised her fist and brought it down.

Just as Kakashi was about bring her into his Head Hunter Jutsu, she broke the ground he was under. Which was right under her feet.

The ground caved in on him and he stood in his spot, his eyes wide as saucers and he sweat dropped.

_The files didn't say anything about these skills,_ He thought, confused. _Where did she learn this? I don't remember hearing Tsunade-hime having another apprentice. _His body became more tense than around most gennins, like when he pushed Sasuke away right as their fight ended.

Sakura smirked, but her confidence was shortened. She noticed a change in Kakashi and she narrowed her eyes.

He was going to get serious. _Without the Sharingan._

That was what she'd wanted. To get Kakashi to use his Sharingan against her would be the ultimate complement.

It pissed her off.

She gritted her teeth and this time, jumped at him, attempting to give a side kick to him in the face.

Like she anticipated, Kakashi caught her leg in his hand and he was shocked. Sakura hadn't put too much chakra, but the small amount she had released into him sent a violent shiver into his body, like his bones were trembling from the inside out. It was as if she sent electricity into his body. Then she tried to punch him and he caught her fist in his other hand. Luckily, she didn't even try to put chakra in that one, otherwise he wouldn't be able to recover from that one as quickly as the first attack.

Sakura glanced at the bells, smirking, and Kakashi realized what she had been doing.

_He's wide open._

_I'm wide open!_

Sakura twisted and swiftly reached down to grab a silver bell. It was in her grasp, touching her palm, when her eyes widened and she was sent flying back. She managed to land on a hand spring and she pressed a hand to her stomach painfully. She looked around. Kakashi had kicked her in the stomach and disappeared.

Kakashi watched her grit her teeth in frustration and punch a crater into the ground from his high perch in a tree several yards away, chakra hidden.

_This kid, _He thought suspiciously. _Is not what she seems._

He looked at both her and the buried young Uchiha, who was looking at her with a surprised expression. Somehow, she did the exact same thing Sasuke had did to him and if he hadn't realized sooner, she could have gotten the bell. He knew she wasn't watching and just happened to find their fight finished with Kakashi as the victor. He hadn't sensed her chakra, or her presence lingering.

They had also been out for themselves.

_Those two are really something._

Then he heard the strangled cry of a frustrated animal caught in a trap. He sighed, tiredly.

He would hide with Naruto, until time was up.

**After time was up...**

After Kakashi had disappeared, Sakura had happily left Sasuke to search for Kakashi. But in their last few hours of their time limit, she was not able to find him.

Naruto was already tied up in the middle and Sasuke was eating in silence to Naruto's right. Sakura was the last to reach the posts and she hid a confident grin as she took a boxed lunch. She leaned against the wooden post to Naruto's left. Then Kakashi popped in, his hands in his pockets and a nonchalant look on his face.

"So I have decided that...oh who am I kidding. I'm just gonna be straight forward with you guys," Kakashi said, exasperated. "You all..."

The three leaned in towards him, anticipating his answer.

"Fail."

Their jaws dropped...except Sakura's, who was confident in what she "knew" was going to happen. Naruto was the first to speak.

"What do you mean 'We fail'?" He asked in disbelief. He struggled in his place.

"I mean what I said. You. Fail."

Sasuke looked as if he was ready to beat someone to death. He already broke his pair of chopped sticks in two. Sakura was silent though, still feeling confident, but she had to play along. She couldn't give anything away. But for some reason, she felt like something was off. This wasn't what exactly happened in her last life and she felt like Kakashi was being completely serious. Sakura showed no emotions as she looked Kakashi, but her grip on her chopsticks tightened slightly.

But it seemed that Sasuke calmed down and gazed at Kakashi with little relief.

"We still go back to the Academy, right?" He asked, but he sounded sure that was what he was going to do. He felt confident.

Kakashi's eyes widened a moment, looking as if he realized he forgot something.

"Oh, yeah. I almost forgot to mention. Yeah," He said, trying to sound guilty. He didn't. "I'm dropping you from the program. Permanently."

Now Sasuke looked liked he was about to beat someone to death and Sakura glanced at him with anticipation. She readied herself.

Just as Sasuke grabbed his kunai from his holster and was about to sprint to Kakashi, Sakura was standing behind him and gripping the back of his high collar tightly. She stared at him blankly when he turned to glare up at her.

They stood there, giving each other looks, and Sakura waited several seconds till Sasuke finally gave in and calmed down enough to sit back down. But when Sakura let go of his collar, instantly he dashed towards Kakashi with kunai poised.

Sakura had also knew this would happen and stood in place, uncaring that Sasuke was pressed into the ground by Kakashi. Her face was still blank as Kakashi spoke in a serious tone.

"All three of you acted selfishly. Three man-squads and only two will pass? Have you even seen a two-man squad?! You didn't even stop to think that I was testing your teamwork." Then he turned to look at Sakura.

"Sakura, kill Naruto and or else I'll kill Sasuke."

Sakura didn't speak and Naruto's gaze swiveled nervously between her and Kakashi with panic, afraid he was going to die at her hands. Sakura lowered her head slightly, causing her fringe to curtain over her hooded eyes.

"See, this is the type of situation I'm talking about. Where someone is taken captive and someone is forced to sacrifice one person. But in this world, that's a win-lose situation," He sighed and let go of Sasuke. Sasuke quickly got up and walked back to his seat, his eyes hooded behind his bangs. Sakura still stood there behind Sasuke, like a statue.

"This is one of the reasons why teamwork is so important. There will be a time where you'll have to choose and teamwork can get you out of it. You all will be dropped from the program. "

Kakashi sighed and turned to walk away. Just as Kakashi took a step, Sakura spoke up.

"Wait!"

With Kakashi's back still turned to them, he looked back with a questionable look. "Hm?"

With eyes still hidden and hooded, Sakura gritted her teeth before sighing, calming herself down. In a soft tone, she spoke.

"Please pass Naruto and...Sasuke," She pleaded softly. No one didn't see it, but Kakashi's eyes widened in the slightest. He was taken aback by the sudden change in attitude. Now she had Kakashi's full attention. He turned so his front side face them too.

"Hm? Why should I do that?"

Sakura struggled to put her thoughts into words. "B-Because," She stuttered. She took a deep breath. She decided she'd just get it over with. She looked up and straight into Kakashi's eye.

"They are my teammates. I will take full responsibility for our failure."

They were all caught by surprise at what she said. Sasuke and Naruto's eyes widened as they stared at her, Kakashi's only slightly again. Sakura continued.

"To be honest, I knew teamwork was the answer from the start," She said truthfully. She looked at the ground, avoiding everyone's gaze. "But I was selfish and wanted to test my ability against a jounin. Gomen, Kakashi-sensei. I am the one at fault. I should have tried to convinced Naruto and Sasuke that we should work together to try to get the bells. I am the one to blame. So." Sakura looked back up at Kakashi again, determination hardening her jade eyes.

"Please pass Naruto and Sasuke. Since I am the one at fault, I will be the only one to be dropped from the program."

Kakashi was silent as he stared at the pink-haired girl. He could hear the honesty in her voice and see the truth in her eyes. The determination to get her teammates to pass made her even more believable, not that he doubted her. He believed her the second she spoke the truth. But there was something missing. Undoubtedly, she was speaking the truth, but when it came to the young Uchiha she immediately distances herself from him, making their teamwork incomplete. He would have to test them even more. Starting now.

He nodded in understanding and Sakura started walking towards Kakashi. "Very well. You will be the only one to be dropped from the program. So -"

Sasuke broke in, making Sakura stop and turn back to them. "No," He said."I won't accept this."

This girl has the nerve to sacrifice herself for them. He wouldn't let that happen. He was supposed to be the strong one. He was an Uchiha. He was _supposed_ to be the strong one. But no. His ass was saved by a fangirl - _no_ - a former fangirl. But his Uchiha pride wouldn't let her do that. No sir.

He stood up and glared at Kakashi. Kakashi could see there was something in his eyes, like...fire. A blue flame that refused to be put out. He didn't understand what it was though. Determination? Will? He didn't know, but he could tell Sasuke wasn't going to take no for an answer.

"I'm not going to let you save my ass again," Sasuke said to Sakura, glaring at her as well and her eyes widened. He turned back to Kakashi. "Kakashi-sensei, we're a team. So we should all get dropped together otherwise it would be unfair. Besides it's also my fault that we had not considered teaming up against you. As an Uchiha, I should have realized it sooner."

"Plus," He added before avoiding their gazes and what he said, he said it so quietly they almost didn't hear it. "She deserves to pass."

Sasuke had a microscopic blush on his cheeks that was unnoticeable to Kakashi. He really couldn't believe he just lowered his pride to admit something so stupid. Well, it was actually kind of noble. But it was the truth and it sort of gave a light feeling in his chest. He sighed as if a weight had been lifted off his chest.

Naruto, having seemed tired of being excluded from the conversation, spoke up.

"Yeah! They're right! It's only fair we all get dropped together from the program!" He supported. "Believe it!"

To be honest, he really didn't like the idea of getting dropped from the program, but Sasuke was right. It wasn't fair to Sakura and she deserved to pass. Yet, she asked if only Sasuke and him pass and she be dropped. He couldn't let her do that either.

Sakura's gaze switched between the two boys, eyes wide in disbelief. She had noticed the light red hue on Sasuke's cheeks and what he said shocked her to no end. It actually sent a warm feeling in her chest but she ignored it.

Kakashi was also surprised. He could see the sparks lighting in their eyes as they defended her. He could hear the honesty in Sasuke and Naruto's voice too. Behind the mask he wore was a small gentle smile. He felt proud.

"Is that what you want?" He asked. "For all of you to be dropped from the program..._together_?"

Naruto and Sasuke nodded firmly.

Kakashi was silent for a moment and the trio awaited his answer.

"I'm sorry, but you guys..." He trailed off, apologetically and their faces fell. "Pass!"

They stared at Kakashi with surprise.

There was a moment of silence before heads turned to the sudden sound of laughter.

They stared at Sakura, who clutched her stomach and was bending down with tears at the corners of her eyes, in surprise.

Why is she laughing? Because to her, the whole thing seemed unbelievably silly, like a joke. Sasuke defending her, it made her laugh. But she was really laughing because even though they are young, they acted so responsible, like adults.

And it made her want to cry, happy they defended her, so she _laughed_ it off.

Soon, Naruto and Kakashi joined in and Sasuke smirked.

**Later after they finished...**

After they finished their laugh together, Kakashi decided that he'd head home, but Sakura knew he was heading to the bookstore again like usual.

As Kakashi walked away, he could hear Sakura walk away and he quickly disappeared to a perfectly good view of Sakura _and _Sasuke.

_Come on, Sakura,_ He thought, trying to send a mental message to her. _Don't just leave._

Sasuke stood up from his sitting position and with little dignity he had left, he called after her.

"Wait."

Unfortunately for Sasuke, Sakura pretended to have not heard him and kept on walking, forcing Sasuke to speak louder.

"Wait," He said louder. Still, she pretended to have not hear him.

Sasuke grinded his teeth together in frustration.

"Wait!" He yelled to her. Finally, satisfied she got the Uchiha to lower his pride, Sakura stopped and turned to look back at him, a pink eyebrow raised.

"Hm? What do you want? She said coldly. It wasn't as harsh as the last time she had talked to him. She stooped to his level now.

Sasuke could feel warmth spread from his neck to his face in the slightest and turned his head away from facing her.

Softly, he said,"Thanks."

In was barely audible but she heard it. Sakura was definitely surprised but she wouldn't show it to him. Sakura frowned and her brow furrowed in confusion. "What for?"

Sasuke's brow twitched in annoyance and a vein popped. "For...helping me."

Something clicked in Sakura's mind and her eyes widened a bit. "Oh, you mean when I wanted you guys to pass instead of me? Yeah, it was nothing. I simply did what anyone would have -"

"That's not what I meant," He cut in. Sasuke's face was hooded behind his bangs, but it was flushed red and he hoped Sakura didn't notice it. It would surely destroy what little pride he had left. Luckily, she didn't.

"Hm?" Sakura cocked her head to the side questionably.

Sasuke turned and started walking the opposite direction, towards his place.

"Tch. You know what I mean." Was all he said as he walked down the street.

"Wait!"

"Shut up."

Sakura's eyes trailed after him, still not getting what he meant. She was slightly pissed he just shut her up.

Then her eyes widened in recognition.

**Before the test was over with Sakura and Sasuke...**

**FLASHBACK TIME: After Kakashi disappeared on them...**

Sakura kneeled down and punched the ground in frustration, gritting her teeth together. There was a small crater

_Kuso! I almost had him, _She thought. She stood up and turned to walk out of the opened field to look for Kakashi when she heard a sound from behind her, like struggle.

She turned to look back and saw the man she despised the most struggling to free himself from the ground.

Sasuke struggled to move in his captivity and he looked very irritated. Sakura smirked at the sight and turned to walk away, but something stopped her.

She glanced back at him. For some reason, she couldn't stand that someone that killed so many innocent people couldn't get out of something as a simple Head Hunter Jutsu.

She frowned and before she knew what she was doing, she was already standing over him, glaring at him with irritation.

Sasuke glared right back and scowled. "What do you wa - hey! What are you - ?!"

"Shut up." Sakura's eyes were hooded as she gripped the top of his head firmly.

And with that, her enhanced strength got her to lift him out of the ground in one pull, gripping the top of his head.

Since Sasuke was a bit taller than her, she had to raise him up a little higher to get him on his feet and she let go of her skull-crushing grip. His clothes were covered in dirt and he bent down to dust himself off.

She lift without him knowing and when he finally looked up, he was surprised to see her already gone.

As Sakura ran through the forest, Mato spoke up.

_Ya know, you can't blame him for what he did._

Sakura stayed silent.

**END OF FLASHBACK**

She said softly, "Hm. I simply did what any teammate would have done. We're a team and we're supposed to help eachother."

She said it so softly, Sasuke barely even heard her. But he did and he pretended to not have heard.

Sakura turned away and walked back towards home.

Unbeknownst to those two, Kakashi heard the whole thing from his hiding place and there was a smile on his lips.

_Maybe their teamwork isn't incomplete after all, _He thought, sort of relieved.

**END OF THIS CHAPTER**

**WOW! That was longer than my last one! I hope you enjoyed it! That was really long. Gomen if it took a while!**

**Thank you for reading my story! ^+^**

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**I hope you guys read everything. Every word.**


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Understood - A Chance to Understand What She Meant**

**About 4 years in the future...after the 4th Shinobi War...with Naruto and Tsunade**

"Ne, Granny Tsunade," Naruto said, his eyes foggy. There were traces of dried tears on his face. He was wearing his old green t-shirt with the red Hidden Eddies symbol on the front and his face had bandages where Sasuke had hit him. He still had _both_ arms intact, just bruised.

Normally, Tsunade would have beat the shit of of the young man, but she felt so hollow inside, she didn't have the strength to do it.

Right now, they were in the Hokage's make-shift office in the middle of reconstruction. After the final battle, Sasuke mutely decided he would break the genjutsu and set the Tailed beasts free in the process. When Naruto came to Tsunade, with Sakura's cold, pale body cradled in his arms, Tsunade thought she was just injured and she was unconscious. She could see the peaceful smile on her apprentice's face and she felt relieved to see her unharmed. Then she saw the hole.

Unfortunately for Tsunade, her fantasy was short lived.

**FLASHBACK TIME: AFTER SASUKE BROKE THE GENJUTSU AND FREED EVERYONE...**

_Naruto laid Sakura down, her head elevated on his lap as Tsunade calmly walked to him and kneeled down next to her, smiling a little. She was still thinking she was just injured. Her hands glowed minty green as she hovered her hands over the gaping hole in Sakura's chest._

_"Wake up, Sakura," She called gently, trying to get her to react. She wasn't. She didn't move a muscle._

_Tsunade wasn't even aware that there were tears building at the corners of her eyes. "Sakura, I said wake up!" She said louder._

_The tears streamed down Tsunade's face and dropped on Sakura's peaceful face. "Sakura Haruno, as your master, I command you to wake up!" She yelled to her, and her voice cracked. She has never yelled at Sakura, but it flew past Sakura's deaf ears._

_Naruto and Kakashi sadly watched the heart broken master of their teammate. Naruto started to cry silently as well._

_Tsunade continued to yell at her as she healed the gaping hole, until the wound was full healed. Tsunade used so much chakra to heal her student, she didn't leave a scratch._

_It showed how much she loved her apprentice. She didn't want to see her like this. It hurt just looking at her._

"Granny Tsunade."

_She glared up at Naruto through the tears. "Who. Did. This?" She asked in a menacing voice, pausing at every word. Naruto's eyes widened, shocked. If looks could kill, Naruto would be dead already. Her eyes were hooded but her eyes were dark and blood lust showed in them. She will hunt who ever done this to her student to the end of the Earth and give them the worst possible death imaginable._

_Naruto was silent for a moment. He didn't know what to do. Tell Tsunade Sasuke killed Sakura or keep silent?_

_To his relief, Kakashi spoke, his voice grim,"Gomen, Tsunade-sama. But I believe this is a bad time. For all of us."_

_Tsunade was breathing heavily and the light in her eyes dimmed. The blood lust in her eyes was replaced with sorrow and she looked down at Sakura's face, which was stained with her tears and Tsunade used her sleeve to gently wipe them off._

_She threw herself over Sakura, sobbing into her chest. "Sakura, please wake up. I didn't get to -"_

"TSUNADE-SAMA!"

Tsunade was startled and looked up at Naruto in shock. He never called her that before. Something must be really serious that he had to break her from her trance using her boss name.

"What's the matter, Naruto?" She asked as she rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand. She had started crying sub-consciously again. Images of her dead apprentice and the blood that soaked her hands flashed in her mind.

She looked back at Naruto, trying to forget the horrible memories.

"Gomen, Granny Tsunade. I know that," Naruto paused, trying to think of a way to express the situation. "It's been really hard on you. It's been really hard on all of us. Ino won't come out of her room and Lee has been running laps around the area without any breaks and crying at the same time. There's practically puddles of tears all over the streets." He added, attempting to lighten the mood. It worked. Sort of.

Tsunade's eyes brightened slightly in amusement, but it wasn't cheerful. She had a small smile on her face, but it was sad.

Naruto continued grimmly. "Anyway, that's not what I came to talk to you about."

Tsunade raised an eyebrow in question.

"Before Sakura died, she told me to tell you this." Naruto paused to clear his throat. "I quote, 'Tell Tsunade-sama that I finally understand'...or something like that."

Tsunade blinked. She wondered, _What could that mean?_

"What didn't you tell me earlier? " She asked.

Naruto stayed silent, looking away. His face showed sadness. Tsunade nodded in understanding.

Naruto changed the subject. "Do you know what that means?"

Tsunade shook her head at him. "No. I don't recall any-"

She stopped in mid-sentence and gasped. Now she remembered.

**FLASHBACK TIME: IN TSUNADE'S OFFICE YEARS AGO...WITH SAKURA AND TSUNADE (A/N: This was right after Sakura's second Chunnin exams BTW. Jiraiya was temporarily sent back to the Hidden Leaf (without Naruto) and was assigned on a slightly dangerous mission but it wasn't serious. This is **_**not**_** an episode. It's just for the story.)**

_After Jiraiya calmly left the office, Tsunade took a shot of sake out of anger._

_"That damn perverted asshole. Going against my orders like that."_

_Sakura spoke up from her master's side. "I don't see anything to be mad about, Tsunade-sama," She adviced._

_Tsunade looked at her with an eyebrow raised in question, still angry._

_"Well," Sakura muttered. "Jiraiya-sama got the job done, didn't he? I know he could have gotten hurt -"_

_"You don't understand, Sakura."_

_Sakura craned her head in 's_ _face turned serious as she gazed at her apprentice._

_"He risked his life for something so stupid, just for a disobeyed my orders and put his life at risk. He could have died."_

_"I understand that, Tsunade-sama. But I just think that-"_

_Tsunade shook her head at her, cutting Sakura off._

_"I don't want him to die," She said with her face hooded. "I don't want him to die for something like that. I don't want him to die at all. I don't want him to understand what it's like to die. Like Dan. And I hope you never have to either." She added. "I don't want my precious people to die."_

_Sakura was thoughtful as she listened to her master quietly._

**End of Flashback**

Naruto stared at Tsunade in shock as he watched her start crying again. She looked as if she was reliving a dream. Or a nightmare.

He walked over to her and had to tap on her shoulder a few times before she came to.

She blinked before she sniffled and wiped her tears away. She cursed under her breath and her voice trembled. "Damn it, I told her already. "

Naruto's brow furrowed in confusion. "You know what it means?"

Tsunade nodded in silence. Naruto wondered what she knew that he didn't but he didn't want to pry. She would tell him when she's ready.

She said quietly, "Let's just hope that she's in a good place with Dan."

**Currently with Sakura...with Team 7**

_Was it really worth coming back in time fix everything? To redoing all these stupid missions_? She wondered regretfully.

Sakura sweat dropped at Naruto, who was being attacked by the 7th missing cat they had to find that week. She watched Naruto scream in pain as he was getting scratched in the face. Sasuke continued to be silent as usual. She sighed.

**Back with Naruto and Tsunade...**

Naruto nodded hopefully and Tsunade dismissed him. He walked out of the make-shift office and started heading towards the cemetery.

He needed to talk to a certain someone and he had a feeling that they would be right there.

He face was full of sorrow and confusion and it really puzzled the villagers he passed. It was unnatural to see the normally cheerful and sunny young man and hero to be dark and sad. But they didn't know Sakura was gone, for she wasn't as well known as Naruto or Sasuke.

As he was walking, he passed by Hinata.

"Hi, Naruto-kun," She greeted him shyly. Her eyes were slightly swollen and her nose was red from crying.

Sadly, Naruto didn't even notice her as he passed by her and continued walking towards the cemetery, lost in his thoughts.

Hinata's gaze trailed after him in sadness. She knew he was probably going through the most pain. Sakura was his teammate and first love.

**FLASHBACK TIME: AFTER THE FINAL BATTLE...RIGHT AFTER SAKURA'S DEATH**

_Once Sasuke had broke the genjutsu and freed everyone, one of the Hyuga confirmed gravely that the battle was over and she came running to help Naruto, to see if he was injured. She hadn't noticed the sad tone in the Hyuga's voice and when he told her that it was best to stay back, she shook him off and ran. When she got to the sight, Naruto was hunched over someone's body, hands and face stained with blood, and crying hard. Sasuke stood off to the side, not awkwardly but guiltily. Kakashi was kneeling next to Naruto, trying to comfort him._

_As she got closer, she could see that it was the lifeless body of one of her closest friends, Sakura, laying deadly still and not breathing under Naruto. Her beautiful pink hair was splayed on the ground and even dead she looked graceful and pretty, despite the blood all over her chest, lips, and clothes. Her eyes were closed and there was a peaceful smile on her face._

_None of them noticed her, seeming to be engrossed in the moment._

_For some reason, a part of Hinata's mind felt relieved in a messed up way. She always, genuinely considered Sakura her best friend and never her love rival, but now that she was gone she actually felt like there was nothing to worry about._

_But the majority of her mind was swimming in deep sadness. She just lost one of her best friends and she knew how much Sakura meant to Naruto. Even though he wouldn't admit it, Sasuke too. She could see how much he cared about her although he tried to hide it. Sakura meant so much to everyone, of course including herself. It just wouldn't be the same without their kind, loud, pink haired medic friend._

_She started to cry silently, praying for Sakura and hoping that she rest in peace._

**End of Flashback**

**With Naruto...**

He stopped a few feet away and gazed at the young man he spent most of his life hunting down to bring him back. Naruto's face was calm. It didn't show anger, sadness, or even a little happiness that he was back.

His face was dead serious.

"Oi, Sasuke," He called. Sasuke's back was turned to him and he stood in front of a grave. Sasuke wore a black cloak over his bruised body. He had many bandages, around his head, one on his face, on his arms, _and_ he had both his arms.

Naruto could see there was a circle carved into the stone and a four petal cherry blossom carved under the circle. He read the words carved under the two symbols:

_Beloved by family, cherished by friends, and a shinobi who served her country well,_

_Sakura Haruno_ _R.I.P_ _1997- 2014_

_Shinobi_ _Medic_ _Daughter_ _Friend_

The circle was the Haruno family insignia and the four petal cherry blossom represented Sakura.

It had been days since the funeral for Neji and Sakura past. Their names had been engraved in the stone for K.I.A. Tenten and Lee constantly visited Neji's together while Naruto, Ino, and Tsunade visited Sakura's. Of course they visited each other's and put flowers on their graves too. Neji and Sakura's graves were loaded.

But Naruto, Ino, and Tsunade went at different times and rarely saw each other, wanting to be alone. He never saw Sasuke. Until now.

Sasuke didn't respond to him and he continued to stare emotionless at her grave.

Naruto walked up behind him and called again louder, "Sasuke."

Sasuke didn't show it but he was startled as he turned to look at Naruto blankly. Although he tried to hide it, Naruto knew he was hurting just as bad as he was and that was saying a lot. Sasuke's face was void of emotion but Naruto knew him better. He could see the bottomless sorrow that filled his dark eyes.

Sasuke answered the untold question Naruto had been wanting to ask him.

"I'm leaving today, Naruto," He answered.

Naruto nodded but didn't say anything. Naruto looked away from Sasuke and gazed sadly at the grave. There was a long moment of silence.

The long silence was killing Sasuke.

As if a flood gate had been opened, Sasuke grabbed Naruto by the collar of his shirt and there was a frantic look in Sasuke's eyes.

"Why aren't you saying anything?!" He yelled incredulously at him. Sasuke knew he killed Sakura and Naruto knew Sasuke did it too and yet he hasn't said a word about it since he broke the genjutsu. Not one word. And the guilt Sasuke felt was eating him from the inside.

Naruto smiled sadly at him. He gently put a hand on Sasuke's arm that grabbed his collar.

"It's okay, Sasuke. But there's nothing to say," Naruto said quietly.

Sasuke looked at him in disbelief. _Nothing to say? Nothing to say?! NOTHING TO SAY?! THERE'S SO MUCH TO SAY!_

"Besides, it's not your fault."

At this, Sasuke froze. His head hung low and his eyes were hooded as he let go of Naruto and turned away from him to gaze at Sakura's grave.

"It is my fault," He growled and he turned to glared at Naruto. How could Naruto say such a thing? He knew it was him who killed her, yet he denies it by saying it wasn't his fault. Is he really so important to Naruto that he would just let him pass by after killing his first love and their dear teammate?

"But," Naruto continued and Sasuke stopped glaring at him to raise an eyebrow in question. "I will admit that I am mad at you."

Sasuke didn't show any surprise, not that he was. Naruto was supposed to be mad at him in the first place. He killed Sakura for Kami's sake. And Sasuke felt like shit.

"Because she died without you returning her love."

Sasuke stiffened. There was a horribly tight feeling in his chest and he felt guilty, sad, and mad all at once. He turned away again, his back facing Naruto. "Naruto," Sasuke began and his hair fell over his face. "I wasn't going to tell you this but..." He trailed off.

Naruto's sad face turned into one of confusion. "Hm? What is it?"

Sasuke's hands balled into fists. "Yes, before my plans were to become the ultimate Hokage and rule over the Five Great Nations," He admitted. "But you know how I wanted to rebuild my clan?" He asked without looking at him.

Naruto nodded wordlessly.

Sasuke gritted his teeth. "...I was going to propose to Sakura after I became Hokage."

Naruto's eyes widened as he gaped at Sasuke in disbelief and he sputtered. "Y-you were going to use Sakura as your..." He trailed off in horror.

Sasuke turned to look back at Naruto angrily. "Of course not! Who do you take me for?" He half asked-half yelled at Naruto.

"..."

"...Nevermind. Don't answer that," Sasuke sighed before adding, "I meant that I..." His voice faded and he felt his face turn hot. He quickly turned back to Sakura's grave, so Naruto wouldn't see his face.

Naruto craned his head curiously at Sasuke. "You meant what?"

Sasuke could still feel the heat in his face and he didn't say anything. He was afraid he might stutter. He fought himself whether to tell Naruto or not. In the end, the truth won.

"Naruto," he began and Naruto nodded to signify that he was listening intently. "I...l-l-l...Sakura," He finish with relief. Unfortunately, his voice had turned into a whisper, quieter than Hinata's.

Naruto's brow furrowed. "Sorry, I couldn't hear you. Could you repeat that?"

Sasuke ground his teeth together and he muttered through gritted teeth. "I," He began and took a deep breath, trying to come himself down. His heart was thumping at a thousand miles per second and it felt like it was about to rip out of his chest and run away. "Love...Sakura." He finished, his voice neutral and he finally turned to look at Naruto to see his reaction.

Naruto's eyes widened again, but they quickly narrowed at Sasuke in anger. Pure, fire red anger in his now Kyuubi-state eyes, vertical slit pupils perpetrating Sasuke's dark eyes.

The next thing Sasuke knew, he was thrown off his feet and knocked to the ground, the wind knocked out of him. He gasped, trying to make sense of what just happened. He looked up to see Naruto standing over at his feet, glaring at him and his mouth in a snarl.

"Don't joke like that, Sasuke!" He yelled angrily and Sasuke could see the tiniest of tears building at the corners of Naruto's eyes. "You're disrespecting Sakura!"

Now it was Sasuke's turn to yell. "It's true!"

"Then why? If you really loved her, why didn't you tell her? You knew she loved you with all her heart yet you pushed her away!" Naruto yelled at Sasuke.

"Because she deserved better!"

Naruto stared at Sasuke in surprise.

Sasuke took a deep breath before he continued steadily ."...The reason why I didn't tell her was because I knew she deserved someone better than a criminal like me."

Naruto continued to gazed at Sasuke. He never thought he felt that about Sakura. He knew that Sakura was important to Sasuke, but he hadn't thought that the reason why he kept pushing Sakura away was because he thought it was best.

Sasuke's face seemed to look distressed though.

"It wasn't just that though," he added. Still on the ground, he looked back at Sakura's grave.

"I never imagined the last thing she would tell me was that she didn't want to see you dead." He said with a half smile. "When I looked at her eyes, they reminded me of Itachi. Hard, unwavering. But I also saw strong anger and hate in them too." His voice had become hushed, pained from the memory.

Naruto's eyes widened. "What are you saying, Sasuke?" He knew what was coming but he didn't want to believe.

Sasuke paused before speaking . "Sakura resented me in her final moments."

**Later that day...at night...**

Sasuke stood in the entrance to the village as he gazed into his birth home. He was alone, nobody to see him off. It seemed as if the whole village was covered by storm clouds. The sky was completely gray, not a bit of sunlight shone through.

His face held no emotion as he fell into deep thought.

_This isn't right, _he thought_._

Somewhere in his mind and heart, he knew it wasn't supposed to end like this. With Sakura's death, Naruto so depressed and sad that he's ignoring Hinata and giving up on him, and him leaving the village. _Permanently_.

_It just doesn't feel right, _he thought_._

He turned and started walking out of the village.

_I don't want to be at home if it means the girl I love won't be there._

Too many painful memories.

**Hey guys!**

**This chapter is dedicated to all Sakura haters! Lately I have seen a lot of Sakura-hating on the Internet and it's starting to piss me off!**

**This chapter is about how much Sakura means to everyone and how it would be like if she were to be cut from the series.**

**They need Sakura. Sakura's strong in her own way.**

**Anyways, thank you readers for looking at my story. I'm already starting the next chapter. I'll update soon!**


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: ** **The Mission: The Thing That Brought Us Closer**

**With Sakura and Team 7...**

Team 7 stood again in the mission room in the Academy, anticipating there next mission.

Sakura was so impatient and bored in the last few weeks, she lost count and forgot that this was the day they were going to receive _the _mission that brought them closer.

She waited for their turn, disinterested as Naruto babbled on and on about ramen. Her ears perked and she turned as Lord Third began to speak.

"Now then," he began, his voice raspy with age. "For Squad 7's next mission, we have several avaiable tasks. Huh?" Lord Hokage paused in surprise as he stared at the scroll. "Among them, babysitting the chief councilor's three year old-"

_Twitch_.

"-helping his wife do the shopping,"

_Twitch, twitch_.

"-digging up potatoes and-"

Naruto opened his mouth to interrrupt the old man but a girl's voice beat him to it.

"Excuse me, Lord Third."

Everyone in the room turned to Sakura in surprise. She couldn't take it anymore. Another boring-ass mission and she would go ballistic. Her eyes twitched in exasperation with every boring suggestion.

Sakura made sure to be careful with her words. "We all do respect, sir. But could you give us...a more difficult mission." She then added politely. "Please. They're too easy."

_She's right_, Sasuke thought.

Naruto backed her up without a second thought.

"Yeah! I know right! Those are all kiddy missions! We want a real mission," he said, serious.

Sasuke mutely agreed.

Lord Hokage spoke, his voice raspy with age. "It seems that you both still don't understand."

The Third Hokage began to explain the rubric and ranks of the missions and somewhere along his explanation, Team 7 lost interest and Naruto started babbling about different flavored ramen.

Just before the Hokage finished, he noticed their turned attention.

"So I had this tankatsu ramen yesterday and I was thinking miso ramen today-"

"Silence!"

Kakashi and Sakura turned to the Third Hokage.

Kakashi scratched the back of his head. "Oh. Sorry," he apologized, although they didn't look guilty.

Naruto turned back to the Hokage and groaned.

"Ah! You always lecture me like you're my grandfather or something!" Naruto exclaimed and he crossed his arms over his chest as he spoke seriously. "But I'm not the little brat that used to pull pranks all the time. I'm a ninja now and I want a ninja mission!"

Sakura nodded.

Sasuke finally spoke up. "Yeah."

Sakura, Naruto, Kakashi, Lord Third, and everyone else in the room stared at Sasuke in surprise. He actually agreed verbally.

He frowned as he raised an eyebrow in irritation. "What?"

Everyone turned back to the Hokage, anticipating his answer.

The Hokage folded his hands together in front of him. "Hm. I see."

He smirked. "So, Naruto wants us to know he isn't a brat anymore. He's a _former_ brat. And _all_ of you, want a higher ranked mission, am I right?"

The three genin nodded.

"Alright." He smiled. "I'll give a C-ranked escort mission."

Sasuke and Iruka's eyes widened in surprise at the Hokage. Sakura's face remained bored and indifferent as before. She definitely wasn't surprised. She glanced at the door.

"Oooooh! I wonder who are we gonna escort? A princess? A lord?" Naruto wondered eagerly.

The Hokage fixed his gaze at the door too. "Come in," he called politely.

The sound of the wooden door sliding open rang and an old man with dark gray hair and glasses stood at the threshold with a glass bottle. He leaned against the door frame, his face slightly flushed. He was obviously a bit wasted.

He raised an eyebrow as his gaze fell to the three 12 year olds and he took a swig of the beer in the bottle.

"Kids?" he questioned. "Is that the best you can do? A short, stupid looking one..."

Naruto laughed and looked between Sasuke and Sakura.

"Hahaha! Who's the short, stupid looking one?" he asked.

Sasuke and Sakura blinked and walked to stand next to him, with Sasuke on his right and Sakura on his left.

He looked up and them.

"..."

"..."

"...I'LL DEMOLISH YOU!" Kakashi held Naruto back by his collar.

"Naruto, we're supposed to protect the client. Not demolish them."

The old man looked at Sakura. "Ooooh. An otaku ninja. That's new," he said. "Do you use all natural hair dye ? I recommend it. It won't make you hair so dry and it will give your hair volume. Are those split ends?"

Sakura blinked in shock. Otaku ninja? That was definitely a new one.

But it took her a moment to fully process what he had said about her though and her green eyes immediately turned to angry slits.

In an instant, she had a kunai in her hand and she took a step towards him, a dark aura emitting from her. She clenched her teeth.

Kakashi quickly grabbed Sakura's collar too.

"That goes for you too, Sakura," he warned.

She growled and took another dangerous step towards the old man. Kakashi had to dig his heels into the floor to slow her down.

_I don't care if he's old or that he's a client. I'm gonna cut him up! _she thought angrily. _I don't have split ends!_

The old man then turned to Sasuke and studied him. Sasuke stared back at the old man, gaze unwavering.

Finally, the old man said,"...Pretty boy ninja."

As if the world around them froze, no one said anything. The killing aura around them seized to exist as Sakura and Naruto's eyes widened in surprise at what he said. Sasuke blinked, trying to comprehend what he just said.

"..."

"..."

"..."

Then Naruto burst out laughing and Sakura followed in a fit of giggles, her hand coming up to cover mouth,trying to stop her laughter in vain. Their eyes were crinkled.

When Sasuke came to, seconds later, his eye twitched in irritation and his frown deepened.

"Ya know," the Hokage started. "I don't _have_ to give you the mission. I can give you another D-ranked-"

"No," Naruto and Sakura said in unison as Sasuke turned to the Hokage to glare at him.

_Isn't this the mission that brought us closer together? _Sakura wondered and she mentally nodded to herself.

The Third Hokage smiled. "Okay. You officially have a C-ranked mission. Escort this man to his home."

Team 7 looked expectantly at the old man and Naruto asked:

"So...are you a princess or something?"

**To Be Continued...**

**I am** **sooooooooooooooo so so so so so so so sorry! I have decided to cut my chapters shorter. I know it's probably not what you want and it wasn't as exciting and I'm really sorry about that!**

**Thank you readers for reading my story and to those who were kind enough to comment and vote!**


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